This came from Mark who visited the farm searching for the perfect eggs to poach. I asked , in return, could he let us in on his secret preparation and he said,"yes!"
Fresh eggs produce the best results due to a
chemical change that occurs in the albumen within as little as a day or two.
Older eggs will dissipate into the water, making a murky mess that's hard to
see into. They also tend to spread out into an amorphous mass rather than
spinning into the nice oval that is the hallmark of the perfect poached egg.
Smaller eggs are better; large eggs tend to spin the yolk out so that you end
up with the yolk on the outside and all of the white trailing behind it. Though
less pretty, they do, as my Southern-raised wife says "eat the same".
So, here's the process.
1. Fill a deep saucepan (about 3 quarts) 2/3 full of water.
2. Add about 2 tablespoons of white vinegar (I prefer rice vinegar). Make sure
that it has no salt in it as this defeats the purpose of helping the white to
coagulate.
3. Crack the egg into a small "ramekin" sized bowl. I like the small,
tapered Pyrex bowls that are about 3" across at the top and 1 1/2"
deep.
4. Bring the water to barely boiling. Lines of tiny bubbles should be rising to
the surface. Once at that point, I turn the gas down to just above
"low".
5. Using a slotted spoon, swirl the water to form a vortex. Take the spoon out
and let it slow down for a couple of seconds. It should be a well-centered,
shallow cone.
6. Carefully bring the egg bowl to the surface of the water and tip the egg in.
The closer you are to the surface, the better.
Under the best of circumstances, the egg will flare out, then begin to tuck
itself into a spheroid over the next minute or so. If all goes well, the
surrounding water will remain clear.
7. After about three minutes, you can gently insert the spoon under the edge of
the egg and lift it. At this point, the white will have gelled and become
translucent, showing only a shadow of the yolk. In another couple of minutes,
it will begin to float. I usually give it a minute or so beyond this to make
sure that the white is thoroughly cooked but the yolk is still mostly runny.
Experience is the best teacher in this regard.
8. When your best intuition says that the egg is ready, lift it out and put it
onto a plate.
9. Repeat for as many eggs as you can stand to cook.
10. When the last egg is just about finished, re-heat the others by returning
them to the water. Tip the plate and ease them in with the spoon.
11. Dry the plate and put a few paper towels (or a tea towel) on it and spoon
the eggs out. Roll them gently with the spoon to dry them all around.
12. Eat! Enjoy
Some nice Fall recipes
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October 15, 2011
UnitedHarvest
CSA Recipes and Food Preparation Support
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